Starting Over
by csigregfan
Summary: A small problem at a scene turns into a much bigger problem for one CSI. It's up to the team to get him back and to help him through it.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! I'm really missing CSI, so thought I would write a story. Please review and let me know what you think of it :P

* * *

"Okay guys, we have two big cases tonight" Russell started. It was 9pm and the start of the night shift. "Morgan, Nick, Greg, you have a D.B. in Henderson, Finn, Sara, you're with me off the strip" Russell told them.

The team all rose from their seats in the break room and Morgan took the assignment slip from her boss.

"See you guys later" Nick said as he, Greg and Morgan left them for the night.

"Yeah, see you later" Finn said as they left.

Russell grabbed his jacket from the back of a chair and looked to the girls, "Right, let's go."

* * *

"I'll take the body" Nick said as he assessed their scene.

"I'll go and talk to the guy who found him" Morgan said, nodding down to the dead body of a young man, no older than thirty.

"I guess that leaves me with the perimeter" Greg said as he smiled briefly at Nick and Morgan before he left them, camera in his hand and headed towards the tape that cornered off the scene.

The dead body was beaten to a pulp and barely recognisable to the ID found in his wallet. The fact that he had his wallet still on him surprised Greg. Around the part of town that they were in, robbery was almost expected. So with the victim not being mugged, it suggested something more, something personal.

Greg frowned as he found a crowbar thrown carelessly onto the ground, not far from where the victim was found. He shook his head as he snapped a photo of it. The guy who did this obviously wasn't very smart, as leaving the weapon behind was often a huge lead as to who their suspect was.

He walked a little further and took a few more photos of shoe impressions in the soft dirt. He was about to go and fetch a kit to take a mould of the impressions but something else drew his attention.

The crowbar he had just taken a photo of was missing.

Frowning, he looked around confused before he was hit on the side of his head hard.

The force of the blow was enough to knock him to the ground and he let out a huff of pain as he hit the dirt. He could barely see straight as he blinked away the pain that had exploded in his head and he looked to where his attacker had been. However just as his vision cleared enough to make out the shape hovering above him, he was struck again.

Blacking out, Greg's face fell onto the ground, dirt sticking to the blood trailing down the side of his face.

* * *

Blinking sluggishly, Greg attempted to open his eyes but squinted as his eye stung and brought a hand up to the side of his head. Pulling it away with a hiss, he could see that blood was still running from his head and down over his face. Taking a few deep breaths as he lifted his head from the ground, he winced when the world swam and swirled around him. After a few seconds he started to push himself to a standing position. After a few stops, he was able to stand with two feet firmly on the ground and he began to use the wall near him as support as he walked slowly back to where the others were.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw Nick bent down by the body still and taking photos, however the flashes sent sharp bursts of pain through his already aching head.

Nick looked up as he saw from the corner of his eye Greg move back to the main scene and couldn't stop his mouth from dropping open at the sight of his friend.

"Oh my god" he said as he stood quickly and rushed over to him, grabbing his arm in support as he saw him clinging onto the wall to stop him from falling to the floor.

Morgan glanced over from where she was interviewing the person who found their victim when she heard Nick and gasped when she saw Greg. Excusing herself quickly, she rushed under the tape and ran to where Nick was holding onto Greg.

"Greg?" She questioned, looking at all the blood running down his face.

Nick hooked his friend's arm over his shoulders as he struggled to stay standing and another officer was quick to come over and grab Greg's other side.

"I need an ambulance" Morgan said worriedly into her phone as she called for the medics.

"Greg can you hear me?" Nick said as he held his friend up. His friend was still conscious and able to stand, but only just.

"I nee' to si' down" Greg said in a slurred voice and Nick and the officer all but carried him to Nick's SUV that they had come in. Morgan rushed in front of them and opened the door to the passenger seat, where they helped sit Greg down, resting him so that he sat straight ahead, so that he would not slump to the side with no support behind him.

Morgan grabbed a towel that they kept in the SUV and passed it to Nick who pressed it onto the side of Greg's head, where he was still bleeding heavily. Greg winced in pain and took in a deep breath.

"Stay with us Greg" Morgan said to him as his eyes drifted close.

"Hey tell us what happened" Nick said to him to try and keep him awake.

Greg swallowed, trying to combat the nausea sweeping over him. "Was a crowbar" he managed to mumble out and Morgan looked to Nick worried. "Took a photo, then it moved" Greg explained to the best of his ability, "Then was on the floor".

"Okay, man. Looks like you were hit pretty hard" Nick said to him as he pulled the towel away, blood having already seeped through it.

Greg sighed and slumped a little into the car seat and Morgan rubbed his arm, "Hey the ambulance is almost here, don't pass out" she told him.

Greg opened his eyes slightly and winced as he did. "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Nick asked him, trying to keep him talking.

Greg started to shake his head slightly but then stopped as pain exploded behind his eyes and he kicked himself for being so stupid. Morgan squeezed his arm comfortingly and turned to see the EMTs pulling up.

She moved out of the way as the officer guided them over and looked at Greg concerned.

"Sir, can you hear me?" One of them asked as he took over Nick's position of holding the towel to his wound, taking it away briefly to inspect what they were dealing with.

Greg grumbled in acknowledgement to the question and opened his eyes again which he hadn't realised had closed.

"Great, can you tell me your name?"

"Greg" he slipped out in a pained voice.

"Okay Greg, this is a nasty wound. I'm going to give you some morphine for the pain. Are you allergic to anything, Greg?" He asked as he prepared a small syringe ready to administer the pain relief.

"No" Greg told him as he screwed his eyes up slightly against the pain.

"Alright, just a small scratch in your arm" the medic told him as he injected him and then he grabbed some gauze passed to him from his colleague. He removed the towel from Greg's head and placed the gauze over it quickly. He secured it down with some tape and then spoke again, "Do you think you can walk to the van?"

Greg nodded slightly and began to turn to get out of the SUV he was sat in. The medic grabbed his upper arm to sturdy him and Nick did the same but the other side of him. They slowly walked to the ambulance and Greg was surprised that his legs didn't give way in the short journey.

The medic helped him lay down in the back of the ambulance and Morgan turned to Nick, "Should one of us go with him?"

Nick nodded, "Yeah you go, and I'll update the others. Let me know what they say at the hospital."

Morgan smiled slightly, "I will".

Nick smiled at her and pulled his phone out of his pocket to call his boss, and Morgan turned back to the medics and took a seat next to Greg before they shut the doors.

* * *

"Hey, yeah he'll be fine, he has a small bleed on his brain but the doctors are going to keep him under observation for the next few hours and they don't expect it to get any worse. No, he's asleep right now; he passed out on the way. Yeah, okay, bye."

Morgan hung up and let out a long sigh. Greg had passed out soon after reaching the ambulance and as soon as they arrived he was whisked away, leaving her alone in the hall, waiting for news.

The doctor had told her that he would be back soon to inform her of her friends condition, but it was half an hour later until she heard from anyone.

"Miss Brody?"

She looked up anxiously and nodded, "Yeah, how is he?"

The doctor smiled and sat next to her, "He's okay. We gave him a scan and found a small bleed inside his brain but we're confident it's not serious. We'll monitor him over the next couple of hours to see if the bleed continues, if not he'll be fine to stay here until he wakes and he'll be able to go home within the next twelve hours. So long as he's not left alone. His eye socket is lucky it's not fractured, it should heel fine on its own, however he'll have a nasty bruise for the next couple of weeks."

Morgan let out a breath of relief. "Thank you, can I see him?"

"Of course, follow me" the doctor told her. As they reached his room Morgan cringed at the sight of him. The left side of his face was black and blue and it had started to creep over onto the right side of his face also.

"He's on pain medication right now so he's not in pain" the doctor explained. "It could be a little while until he wakes but he'll be alright."

Morgan nodded, "I'm alright to sit with him?"

"Yes of course, press the call button if there are any problems when he wakes up or if you have any concerns" the doctor told her with a soft smile.

"Thank you". She stepped into the room and took a seat next to him. He was lucky. She had worked many cases where a blow to the head was fatal, and it was reassuring to see the oxygen mask placed over his face keep fogging up as he breathed in and out steadily.

Taking her seat next to him, she decided to call Nick and fill him in.

* * *

Nick was sat with Morgan in Greg's room when he started to wake. His eyes blinked open slowly and they both smiled as they looked at their friend.

"Hey man, how you feeling?" Nick asked him.

Greg closed his eyes for a second before answering, "Groggy" he replied honestly.

Morgan smiled sympathetically. "I bet, your head took a beating" she said softly.

He groaned as he bought a hand up to his head, feeling the rough bandage placed over where he was hit.

"Good news is you're going to be fine," Nick told him, "You actually had a small bleed but they gave you another scan half an hour ago and it hadn't gotten any bigger."

Greg let out a breath and looked to his friends, "How long do I have to stay here for?"

"You're allowed to go home today, they probably want to keep you for a few more hours just to make sure you're okay but then you can leave, as long as you're not on your own" Morgan told him.

"Can you see if I can go now?" Greg asked them, wiping a hand over his face, "I hate these places" he said quietly, closing his eyes.

Nick rubbed his shoulder friendly and stood to go and find a doctor who could answer his friend's question. Morgan frowned as she watched him leave and wondered what that was all about and shuffled in closer to Greg.

"Does your head hurt?"

"No, well yeah, but it's not too bad" Greg told her.

"The others were worried about you, I think you're getting a week off work from Russell too" Morgan told him with a small smile.

Greg smiled at her, "Finally some time off" he joked.

She laughed as Nick came back to join them. "Someone's going to come and have a final check on you, if it all looks good then we can take you home."

Greg let out a small breath and nodded, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, man" Nick said back to him and this added to Morgan's confusion. What was the deal with Greg and hospitals?

"Mr Sanders, I hear you're wanting to go home already" the doctor said as he entered.

Greg nodded, "yeah."

"Okay, if you don't mind stepping outside for just a second, I just want to check Mr Sanders condition" he said to Nick and Morgan, "if all looks clear I think you're safe to leave."

Greg nodded and let the doctor do all the procedural checks. Although it pained him to have the pen light shone into his eyes, everything else was good enough evidence to prove that Greg was okay to go home.

"I just need confirmation that you will have someone stay with you for the next twelve hours" the doctor said to him before Greg could be released.

"Yeah we'll be staying with him" Nick answered with a smile.

"Okay, then you're good to go" his doctor said, handing Nick a prescription bag, "He's to have two every four hours."

Nick nodded, "Got it, thank you."

"Ready to go, Greggo?"

Greg looked up to him and nodded, "Let's go."

* * *

Once they had gotten to Greg's house, Nick had ushered Greg straight to his bedroom and told him to get some rest. Nick and Morgan sat in Greg's kitchen and Morgan turned to Nick with a questioning look, "What was going on in the hospital?"

Nick frowned at her in confusion, "What are you on about?"

"Greg. Why does he hate hospitals so much?" Morgan asked him.

Nick shrugged, "It's a hospital. Not many people like them" he said to her with a small smile.

"This was more than that" Morgan said back to him, "There's something else isn't there?"

Nick's smile slid off his face and he sighed, "Don't let him know I told you this" he started in a quiet voice. "When Greg was beaten up, you know what happened years ago" and Morgan nodded knowingly. Greg had mentioned it when they were working a case before and although he didn't say much she got the general idea of what happened, "when he was in the hospital, he watched the boy he hit with his car die on the table. He was in the room next to Greg's" Nick explained. "Ever since, I guess hospitals just remind him of what happened and he blames himself for that kid's death still. I don't think that will ever change".

Morgan shook her head sadly, that's why Greg wanted to leave. Sure it must have been hard to know you were responsible for killing someone, even if it was self-defence, but to have to watch it?

"Don't let him know that I've told you" Nick said, breaking her thoughts, "He wouldn't want me to share what happened with anyone".

Morgan nodded, "Of course, I won't."

Nick smiled at her and then turned to Greg's living room, "You want to watch some T.V.?"

"Sure".

* * *

Nick stood from Greg's couch after an hour of bad daytime T.V. and went to Greg's bedroom and knocked on the door.

He slowly opened the door and went over to his friend, "Hey man" he said, shaking his shoulder slightly to rouse him. Greg turned in his bed slightly and his eyes opened.

"Sorry, I just had to check you were alright" Nick told him with a smile, "Doctor's orders".

Greg let out a breath as he rolled onto his back and pushed his head into his pillows.

"You fancy trying to eat something?" Nick asked him, even though he was sure his friend just wanted to go back to sleep.

"No, thanks" Greg said to him as he brushed a hand over his face tiredly, only to pull it away as it hurt to touch his giant bruise.

"Alright, I'll be back in an hour or so to wake you up again" Nick told him with a soft chuckle.

Greg smiled at him slightly, "Okay."

Nick shut the door to his friend's room softly and walked back to Morgan.

"I'm going to go to the lab and see what I can do on our case" she said as she saw Nick come back to join her.

"Alright, don't stay too long though, you should go home and get to bed" Nick told her as he passed her, her jacket.

"I won't, I just want to make a start on trying to catch the guy who did this" she told him honestly.

Nick nodded, "I hear you. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then".

Morgan smiled, "yeah, tell Greg I'll come by and see him whilst he's off work."

"I will" Nick told her as he waved her off.

* * *

Please let me know what you think of the first chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone, second chapter is up. I hope the lines to separate all the different sections work this time! Please let me know what you think.

* * *

It was the next day when Nick finally left Greg's and headed for his own house. His friend had recovered slightly and was able to tell the Texan to head home and get some rest. He had stayed with Greg for longer than the doctor had suggested and Greg was pretty sure that his friend had not slept even whilst he was asleep for most of the day.

Greg had just sat down after seeing Nick off and making himself a mug of coffee. He felt lousy. Although the medication he was given did its job of keeping the pain away, the dull ache that he had all over his face was still prominent.

He was just about to put his feet up when there was a knock on his door. Thinking it was Nick who had forgotten something; he pushed himself up and took a sip of his coffee before he opened the door. However, as he did, he was pushed back into his house, the door slamming into him as he lost grip on his mug and it went crashing to the floor.

He was then roughly manhandled into his living room where two men shoved him down onto the ground. "You're buddy gone back to your little crime lab to try and find us? Try to find out who hurt his little friend?" One of them said to him as they roughly pushed his already injured face into his own floorboards.

Without even saying anything, he was pulled into a standing position by the men and when they started pulling tape from a roll, reaching up for his face, he started to struggle. Somehow he managed to tear himself from the man's grip around him and he half ran half stumbled towards his bedroom where he had left his mobile. If he could call Nick he knew he could get back to his house within minutes.

However he didn't get far as the men behind him grabbed him and rammed him up against the wall of his hallway. He could feel a wet patch forming under the bandage on his head and knew his wound had started to bleed again.

He struggles with them both, but his efforts were futile as they both held him with ease.

"That wasn't a smart move was it?" One of them said as he felt the man's hot breath on his neck.

Knowing he wasn't going to have a second chance of getting out of the man's grip as easily as the first time, Greg had an idea. Thinking quickly, he started to shut his eyes, as if losing consciousness, whilst at the same time letting his legs give way and allowing himself to drop.

"The fucking guy's passed out" one of them said as they released their grip on Greg and let him fall to the floor.

Greg could hear laughing and knew that they had both bought it. Now all he had to do was run.

"Look at his damn face, probably because of what you did to him earlier" one of them said, and Greg could almost hear the grin on his face.

"Hey I did what I had to" the other guy said in mock defence, "come on, let's see what we can take with us whilst we're here".

Greg could hear them walk through his house and down the hall to where his bedroom was. Now was his chance. Opening his eyes, his vision swam but he had to get up. Pushing himself up wobbly, he made his way to his front door.

"Hey!"

Turning around he saw the two guys heading back towards him and inside he knew he wouldn't reach the door in time, he could barely put one foot in front of the other.

But he tried anyway. He was sure he couldn't have ran into more of his furniture even if he tried, and just as he was in reach of the door handle, a heavy weight jumped him from behind, sending him crashing into the floor once more.

"You idiot" the guy said who was panting above him as he grabbed Greg by the hair and lifted his head up, "think you're clever pretending to play dead? Huh!" he said, smashing Greg's head into the floor. Greg was sure he could hear his nose crunch as it was forced to break under the pressure and within seconds there was blood pooling from it.

"Come on, we're not spending any more time here" the other guy said as he opened Greg's door, "let's put him in the damn van".

Greg could feel himself being hoisted up and dragged outside and thrown violently into the back of a van that was backed up onto his drive.

His head felt like it could explode as the doors to the van were slammed shut and he could do nothing but lay in the back, dazed as to what had just happened.

* * *

The next time he woke, he could barely open his left eye. It had been swollen from his scene the previous day, but after what had just happened, the whole side of his face felt like it was going to rip off it was so swollen.

"Well look who decided to wake up".

He looked up wearily to the source of the voice and didn't recognise the face that stared down at him, a grin on his face.

"You're a handful, you know that?" the guy asked him.

"Ah, we like a challenge really" Greg heard and he turned his head slightly to see a second man looking down at him.

"I'm surprised you had so much fight in you" the guy said, sounding almost impressed, "I would have thought you were a dead weight".

Greg closed his eyes as he tried hard to think of what exactly was going on. He was so confused. How had these men found him? And which one was the one who attacked him at his scene?

"You better get comfortable in here because we expect to keep you for a long time, you hear me?" he was told. "Your little crime lab friends won't have a clue what's happened".

Greg started to look around in a panic. The room he was in was dark and damp. It looked like a house where nobody had lived for at least twenty years. The walls were stained; there was no carpet or decoration to the room. It was just an empty room.

Why was he here?

"Why am I here?" Greg asked them, and he was surprised at how raspy his voice sounded.

"Isn't that obvious?" he was asked, "You were at the scene, we needed a guy, and you looked good enough for the job".

Greg could feel himself losing consciousness and soon enough the last thing he could see was stars dancing before his eyes.

* * *

"How is he?" Morgan asked hastily as she ran up to Russell and Nick in the hospital, tears in her eyes.

Russell shook his head, "The doctors are still working on him. They aren't sure if he'll make it yet; he's got a lot of injuries".

Morgan covered her mouth with a hand and let a tear slip out. She turned to Nick who was sat in one of the hard plastic chairs looking down, his arms resting on his legs, hands intertwined and head facing the floor.

"Nick?" She asked him.

He glanced up at her and she could see the tears swimming in his red rimmed eyes and he looked away without a word. She had never seen him this close to tears before.

Russell pulled her into a hug, seeing how she looked at Nick and she couldn't help but break down. What if Greg didn't make it?

Nick looked up when he heard her start crying and quickly stood from the chair he'd been sat on and headed down the hall.

"Nick!" Russell called after him but he didn't stop and Russell knew that he had to let him go, and carried on comforting Morgan.

* * *

Nick brushed the tears from his face as he lost all control he had over his emotions. So long they had been waiting to find Greg. So long his friend was in the hands of those bastards and yet there was no guarantee he could even make it out of this alive.

He wiped even more tears on the back of his hand and thought about the sight of his friend when he and Russell had found him. He had to do CPR on his best friend. His friend was literally dead.

He looked up as someone sat next to him on the bench he was sat on outside and he was met with the sad face of Finn. She wrapped her arm around him and that was it. She pulled him tight as he cried and she could only pray that Greg was still alive.

* * *

"We found him".

Sara looked to Finn and grabbed her keys as she hung up the phone, "They found him".

Finn looked at her in shock for a second before running after her outside of the lab and jumping into her SUV.

They raced to the hospital and as they pulled up, they saw Nick sat down the side of the hospital, wiping a hand over his face.

Finn and Sara shared a look before Finn spoke, "You go and see how Greg is, I'll stay with Nick".

Sara nodded quickly and took off into the hospital, whereas Finn quickly made her way over to where she saw her colleague wiping away tears. As she approached she could hear him sniff as he tried to compose himself, but as she sat down next to him, she could see the pain on his face.

Putting her arm out to him, she could see the moment he officially broke, and all she could do was support the man in her arms as he cried for his best friend.

* * *

Sara rushed through the halls until she found who she was looking for.

Russell and Morgan were sat in the hall where Nick previously was, with Russell keeping his arm around Morgan's shoulders.

"How is he? Is he okay? Is he alive?" Sara asked as Russell looked up to her.

Morgan looked up too and Sara could see how bloodshot her eyes had become from crying.

"He's alive, but the doctors aren't sure if he can make it through surgery" Russell told her as he stood.

Sara shook her head, "How did he look?"

Russell looked away and then to Morgan who was also awaiting his answer, "He didn't look good, we had to give him CPR" he explained to them and this caused Morgan to cry even more and Sara let out a deep breath.

"Can someone tell us how he is?" Sara asked, keeping her composure.

"We have to wait until they come and tell us" Russell said quietly, "They're doing all that they can".

Sara nodded and sat next to Morgan, pulling her into a hug as she tried to support her friend.

Russell felt like crying too. The state that he and Nick had found Greg in was indescribable. Russell was sure that his young colleague was dead, and after so long, it would not have surprised him.

* * *

Nick jumped out of the SUV before Russell had even parked up. Russell jumped out after him and quickly followed him into the house.

Nick had barged through the door, gun drawn and ready to shoot. Russell could only follow his lead as he stormed through the house, searching for his friend.

It was only when he reached upstairs that he could hear Nick say "Oh god" and that's how he knew Greg was there. He went into the room where Nick had gone and saw him leaning over a beaten and hurt Greg.

"He's not breathing" Nick said as he turned to him panicked.

"He's not fucking breathing!" he said again and began to give him friend chest compressions.

Russell rushed over and dropped down next to him, opening Greg's jaw, and Russell was sure he felt part of the bones move under his touch. He lowered his mouth down and breathed air into Greg's lungs. An ambulance was already on its way, Brass having sent one after telling them where they were heading. Russell was praying that it wouldn't be too late.

Nick's compressions were becoming harder and more erratic as he desperately pumped blood through his lifeless friend. "Nick, swap over" Russell told him, already assuming his position over Greg's body.

Nick quickly moved to his friend's head when Russell took over pumping Greg's heart. It seemed like an eternity but eventually, the ambulance arrived.

As the medics took over, Russell had to physically pull Nick away from Greg's body, and things seemed to go in slow motion as they watched them work to save Greg's life.

* * *

Finn and Nick joined the others after a quarter of an hour and nobody said anything.

The halls of the hospital were busy and loud, but none of them heard anything until the doctor's footsteps approached them.

"Doc, how is he?" Russell asked him as the team looked up at him hopefully.

The doctor looked at them all, "Please follow me".

The team shared worried looks before following the doctor into a private room.

"Take a seat" he told them as he sat down with a clipboard.

"Greg made it through the surgery" he started off with and he could see the relief in all of the CSIs eyes, "He's still extremely weak and it is touch and go. He's currently on a ventilator which is breathing for him and we have him hooked up to an EEG which isn't showing the normal or usual brain activity that we would hope for. It could be temporary, a side effect of an injury, but we will know for sure if he makes it through tonight".

The team didn't know how to react and the doctor didn't say anything for a moment to allow them some time to collect themselves.

"We're monitoring him closely for any changes, there could be a number of problems arise which are life threatening".

"When can we see him?" Sara asked softly.

The doctor sighed, "You can see him once he's in a room, however I'm afraid I can't allow anybody inside of the hospital room. With so many injuries, some already infected, we can't risk anything. For now it will have to just be through a window".

Sara nodded and the others were still quiet. "Would you be able to fill me in on his injuries shortly?" Russell asked.

"Of course, I can go and see if Greg's settled in a room now, and then we can talk about his injuries" the doctor said to Russell.

"Wait, just tell us now" Nick said with a broken voice.

"Nick" Russell said, "Finn and I will get a list of his injuries, you guys can go and see Greg".

Nick shook his head, "No I want to know what those bastards did to him".

Russell looked to Finn and she nodded, "Okay".

"Shall I begin?" The doctor asked gently.

Russell nodded.

"Okay then" the doctor started, "Our major concern and Greg's biggest injury is the severe trauma to his head, and essentially to his brain. He suffered a subarachnoid haemorrhage. Surgery released the pressure on his skull but this has only increased his chance of catching a more serious infection. His spine was also damaged; however the spinal cord was still intact, which is one thing to be thankful for. There is a very strong chance that the injuries to his head and spine have caused some significant mental and physical damage. We will know the extent when he wakes up. If, he wakes up. To recover, his body will need to rest for a considerable amount of time, so he will be unconscious for a long period."

The doctor gave them a moment before he continued, "Greg's other injuries include a lot of severe tissue bruising, over 90% of his body, and there are lots of lash marks, particularly across his back. Many of the wounds there are infected so he's on strong antibiotics to try and combat that. The bruising is consistent with an extremely brutal beating and it looks like many of the bruises have been there for quite some time. He has many, many broken bones. He'll need surgery if he gains some strength to try and fix a lot of them, his legs, arms… fingers on both hands are damaged, however the right hand was a mess when he was brought in" the doctor told them with a soft voice.

"It's highly likely that the function of it won't be much. However, if he can get stronger and gain consciousness, eventually physical therapy would begin and we could see what we were working with" the doctor looked at the group, unsure as to whether he should continue.

"Greg also has a lot of injuries to his face" he began tentatively. "His nose, jaw, cheek bones, everything is broken". Morgan let out a sob and the team shared looks and sighs as they took it all in.

The doctor gave them a saddened look. "If you'd like, you can go and see him now" he suggested, feeling like that was the end of their conversation.

Russell nodded and the doctor stood, with Russell and the team following.

* * *

None of them spoke as they walked down the hospital halls until they came to a stop outside one of the rooms in the ICU.

The doctor turned to them. "I was told a few of you were the ones to bring him in?" Russell nodded, "Then you know how he looks. He's on a ventilator and he's also hooked up to many other machines. It will look very overwhelming. Obviously the bruises will take some time to go and just remember that the swelling will also go down" he told them all, trying to soften the blow for what they were about to see.

"He's just in here. You're welcome to stay and look through the window for as long as you'd like" he told them stepping a few more feet until he was directly outside of Greg's room.

The team took a deep breath in before moving forward themselves, but as soon as they saw their friend, they wished they hadn't.

Morgan and Sara gasped and brought a hand up to their mouths. Nick's eyes swelled with tears. Finn had to look away, and Russell just stared in shock.

Inside, Greg was motionless in the middle of the bed, giant machines surrounding him. Or at least they thought it was Greg. He was almost unrecognisable. His face had swollen to distort all of his features, obvious broken bones making his skin stretch in places.

His neck was black and bloody, the dark red substance had dried around a thick jagged cut that went around the length of his neck, covered by what seemed like hundreds of stitches. It was obvious that the doctors and nurses had cleaned him up, but dried blood covered every cut that was visible. The tube that was rigged up to the ventilator, stuck out from the side of his mouth, sat on his chapped, cut lips.

His head had been shaved along one side; a giant bandage was wrapped around most of it. A tube was coming from under it and ran behind him and down the back of the bed. What was visible of the rest of him was just as pitiful.

The top of his chest was bare, the blanket covering him only up to his waist, and he had been left without a hospital gown to cover him. His chest was mostly covered by bandages however. The whiteness of them making the dark, discoloured skin stand out more.

He was a sorry sight. And the team could hardly bare to look at him any longer. Pretty much everyone was crying now without giving a damn who saw them. If they knew what they had gone through, what Greg had gone through… they would understand.

* * *

I hope you liked this chapter :P


	3. Chapter 3

Time for chapter 3! Let me know what you think, and thanks for the reviews already :P.

* * *

"Hey, we bought you some normal clothes to wear" Nick said as he entered Greg's hospital room with Sara.

Greg looked over to them from the chair he was sat in as they placed their bags that they had bought onto the bed. He gave them a smile as they turned back to him, showing him what they had brought for him to wear.

"What do you fancy?" Nick asked him as he laid out all that they had bought.

Greg looked over and his hand drifted up towards his neck, where his fingers grazed over the still healing wound and scar.

"Do you have, like, a shirt?" he asked quietly.

Sara stared at him for a moment silently. Watching as he consciously rubbed the edge of his fingers along the evident mark across his neck. Snapping back to reality she turned and foraged through one of the bags, "Yeah, I think so. Here, this one?" She asked, finding one and holding it up.

Greg looked at it briefly and nodded slightly.

"Alright let's try it on" Nick said with a smile as he came over and untied the gown around Greg's neck. He dropped it down so that it was resting on Greg's thighs and Sara quickly passed Nick the shirt when she saw Greg avoiding to look at either of them.

Nick held it open and helped Greg to get the shirt on as fast as he could manage. As soon as he had his arms in and it was resting comfortably on his shoulders, Nick did up the buttons, all but the top one, and then stood back, letting Sara take a look, "What do you think?"

Sara smiled, "I think it looks good. It's a little big but we can get a smaller size next time" she said as she sat on the bed facing them.

She carried on gazing at Greg and gave him a soft smile when he looked up to her. She stood up and went over to him, gently pulling his hand down from his neck that he wasn't aware he had moved back up.

"You can hardly see it with the shirt on" she said quietly as she held his hand in hers.

Greg gave her a sad smile, not realising he had been so easy to read. He didn't think he was being that obvious about how conscious he was.

Sara gave his hand a soft squeeze before she stood and went back to the bags on the bed.

"We bought you a little treat" she said, turning around with a chocolate milkshake in her hand.

"Yeah, but if the doctors ask, you haven't had it alright?" Nick said, making both she and Greg smile.

Nick had suggested buying something that Greg would eat, but since he wasn't allowed much solid food still, milkshakes and smoothies seemed the best option. But since he had been having all of the general hospital food, they thought a full fat chocolate shake would be just the right thing.

"Thank you" Greg said as he took it from Sara, who had taken a straw from the pack at the end of his bed and placed it in the bottle for him.

Ever since he had been able to drink, Greg had to have a straw to help him. His movement was limited, although it was getting better, and he often had trouble even holding the glass or bottle, never mind bringing it up to his lips.

"No problem" Sara said as she went back over to unpack some more clothes. "Now we bought some pants but I'm not sure we got the right size" she started to explain to him.

"Well we can try 'em on and go back and swap them if they're not right" Nick said as he turned to her.

Sara held a pair up and looked at them, "Yeah I guess, they look a little big now we're here. I guess we could put a belt on them".

Nick gave her a sideways glance and she immediately regretted what she had said. She turned to Greg and put her hand on his arm, "Greg I'm sorry I didn't think" she said apologetically.

He shook his head slightly and offered a small smile, "It's alright".

* * *

"So what did you use?" Brass asked in a gruff voice.

"We found traces of blood on the belt you were wearing when you came in" Nick said after a few moments of silence. "It matches the lash marks we found on Mr Sanders' back".

The guy across the table in the interrogation room just smiled and shrugged, "Looks like you don't need me to answer your questions. You already figured it out".

"What else did you use on him?" Brass said before Nick could get a word in.

"Why don't you ask him?" the man asked, acting cocky.

He leaned forward on the table, "Oh no, is he talking to you? Or has he not forgiven you yet?"

Nick and Brass frowned slightly as they shared a look, "What are you on about?"

"You" the guy said nodding to Nick, "You're the one who left him on his own, before we got into his house and took him for a ride".

Nick suddenly realised what the man was talking about. All that time ago, when Greg was first taken, he had left Greg's house and that's when the attackers stroke. That's when Greg was taken.

"Bet you wish you'd never left" the man said with a laugh.

However that was the last thing he said before Nick leapt over the table and tackled him to the floor.

* * *

Sara stepped back from Greg's door and waited. It was the second time she had knocked and she didn't hear Greg coming to let her in.

She went over to his window and held her hand up to the glass to look inside. As soon as she saw, she ran back to the door and to her surprise found it open. She went inside and quickly scanned the room.

"Greg!" she didn't get a response and quickly made her way through his home.

"Greg!" she shouted again and pulled her cell from her pocket.

"Russell, you need to come to Greg's house. Now".

* * *

"Hey" Morgan greeted him as she entered his hospital room.

"Hey".

"How are you feeling today?" She asked him as she sat down next to him lying in bed.

Greg let out a small sigh, "A little better I guess."

"That doesn't sound very convincing" Morgan said to him with a smile.

He didn't reply, just gave a mumble in response. Morgan picked up the remote to the television and turned to him, "Do you want to see if there's anything on?"

He nodded gently and she smiled as she turned the power on and changed through the channels, before settling on an easy to watch game show.

She didn't try and speak to him anymore, just spent time with him. They were all finding it difficult to come to terms with the fact that Greg didn't say much. Perhaps didn't want to say much. But they were hoping that with time, he would become more like the old Greg, and get a little chattier as time went on.

None of them could blame him for not wanting to say much though. He had spent so long without them all. So long he had spent doing nothing except being beaten, hurt, and tortured by the bastards that took him. And all because he was the one they saw at the scene.

* * *

Sara, Nick and Finn were all sat in Greg's hospital room, talking over cases with each other. Sara had been sat with Greg for an hour or so and she could have sworn that she saw his eyes moving underneath his lids earlier. However she didn't say anything about it when Nick and Finn came to join her, having just finished their case.

After they had been sat for another hour together, Finn noticed the same thing Sara had noticed earlier. Greg's eyes were moving underneath their lids.

"Guys I think he's waking up" Finn said to both Nick and Sara as she moved in closer, grasping Greg's hand.

Sara had a hopeful look in her eyes and she prayed that he was finally waking up. She joined Nick and Finn at his bedside and they all smiled when he finally opened his eyes.

"Greggo?" Nick asked as his friends eyes shifted slightly under their half closed lids.

Greg's eyes turned to look at him, but Nick couldn't be sure that Greg was even seeing him. There was no recognition there, there was nothing, and after only a few seconds his eyes were drifting closed again.

Nick sighed as he sat back in his chair, "Well at least he woke up right?" he said, trying to not let his disappointment show.

Finn nodded, "Yeah. This is a huge step. I'm going to go and tell his doctor" she said before standing up and leaving the room.

Sara looked over to Nick and licked her lips, "You know, he'll probably wake up again sometime soon. And the more he wakes up, the longer he'll be awake for".

Nick looked over to her and nodded, "Yeah I know. I just… I just want him to know that we're here. That he's not still back there".

Sara nodded in understanding, "I know. But I think he knows".

* * *

"We can't stop looking. We can't give up on him" Nick said in desperation. "He's out there somewhere waiting for us to come and find him".

Russell took in a deep breath, "It's not my call. I'm going to meet up with the board later to discuss it".

"Have you spoken to my dad?" Morgan asked, and everyone looked at her, wondering the same thing but not wanting to bring it up.

Russell shook his head, "No, and this is out of his control too-"

"I'll go and talk to him" Morgan said, interrupting him.

"Morgan just-" But she had gone. Russell turned back to the rest of his team, "I'm going to fight to keep this case open as much as the rest of you, but if this were any other case, you know that with as little leads to go on as we have right now… the investigation wouldn't continue".

Finn looked down, knowing that what Russell was telling them all was true. She turned to Nick as he sat down at the break room table and put his head in his hands.

Hodges and Henry were there and they shared sad looks with each other, not wanting to accept that they may never find Greg.

He had been missing for almost three months now and as much as nobody wanted to admit it, they were all losing hope. And they all knew that if they were to continue looking, it was more than likely a body that they were going to be looking for.

* * *

"What time did you leave?" Finn asked Nick as they stood in Greg's home. The team had arrived not even half an hour after Sara had rang Russell to inform him of what she had found.

"I left not even two hours ago. I made sure he was alright, he'd settled on his couch, I said I'd call back to see him tomorrow and I left" Nick explained, running a hand over his face.

Finn bit her lip as she thought, "Did you notice anything unusual as you left?"

Nick shook his head and shrugged, "No. I mean, I didn't really look for anything. I had no idea this was going to happen".

Finn rubbed his arm, "I know, but don't worry we are going to find him. He'll be ok".

Nick nodded and turned to Russell behind him, "Have you found anything?"

Russell sighed, "There are a few different blood samples we've swabbed, I'm going to take a guess and say that they both belong to Greg though".

"Do you think this is linked to what happened at the scene?" Nick asked him worried.

"It's possible. We're just going to have to see what results we get and see if we can find a link" Russell said to him, "I don't know how they would know Greg's address if it is the same guy from the scene?"

"Maybe they followed us" Nick said with raised eyebrows, "What if they stayed at the scene and followed us to the hospital? Then they followed us here?"

Finn shook her head, "That seems a little farfetched. I mean how long were you at the hospital? He'd have had to wait around there, have tabs on your car, and follow you without you noticing all the way back here… All whilst risking Greg identifying him? I don't buy it" Finn said honestly.

"What if there's more than one?" Nick suggested, looking from Finn to Russell.

"That's possible. But we need some solid evidence before we can even suggest that these two things are related" Russell told him.

Sara came from down the hall carrying bags of evidence, "I'm going to take this back to the lab, see if I can get anything".

"I'll come with you" Finn said, as she picked up some more evidence bagged in the kitchen.

"Alright, keep us updated" Russell told them and then turned back to Nick.

"Let's see what else we can find".

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it.


	4. Chapter 4

Please enjoy chapter 4!

* * *

"Hey man" Nick said as he entered Greg's hospital room.

"How you feeling today?" He asked as he sat down.

Greg swallowed and moved his lips slightly, "Bit better".

Nick smiled, "Yeah? Well I have another gift for you" he said, pulling a smaller bag from inside another bag he had placed on the floor. "I think this one's from Judy on reception" he said as he read the label, "Yeah, let's see what it is" he said pulling it out, "Well this is nice of her; you got a new pair of pj's. Might be a little while until you can get them on but they'll be better than the crap the hospital gives you".

"I'll tell her you said thanks" Nick said as he folded them back up and placed them back in the bag.

"You want to watch some T.V?" Nick asked after a few moments silence.

Greg rolled his head ever so slightly to face his friend and nodded gently.

"Ok, maybe we could watch one of those DVDs that Archie sent you?" Nick asked, "You have about a hundred of them" he joked.

Everyone from the lab had sent him get well soon gifts. A lot of them however Greg couldn't use yet, probably wouldn't be able to use them for a while actually, but the thought was still there.

On the plus side though, Nick was grateful for all the chocolates that people had sent to his friend, as it meant he could eat more of them whilst he was there.

"Hey Greg, how are we doing this morning?" His doctor asked him as he came into his room.

Greg nodded slightly in response, and Nick didn't say anything, knowing that the doctor wanted Greg to speak.

Ever since he had woken up, Greg didn't say anything for weeks, and then when he could speak, he hardly said anything. So his doctors made sure that he spoke regularly.

"How is your new pain medication working out?" His doctor asked him.

He had been started on a new pain relief when the one he was on before wasn't working as it should. Whether it was to do with the other drugs in his system or the pain just being too much for Greg to handle, Nick didn't know. But they had changed it over yesterday after Greg could barely bear to move even the smallest bit, and actually began to tear up from the pain.

 _"What's wrong?" Nick asked as his friend screwed his eyes up in pain._

 _Greg let out a small sob and a few tears ran down his face, "Pain" was all he could muster out and Nick pressed the call button for a nurse._

 _"Alright man, they're coming" Nick said comfortingly as he placed his hand on the man's arm._

 _"Are you alright?" The nurse asked as she stepped into his room._

 _Nick gave her a shake of the head, "No, he's in a lot of pain"._

 _She nodded and came over to his bed, picking up his notes, "I'll go and see what we can do. I won't be a minute"._

 _Nick nodded to her and offered a small smile in thanks and then turned back to Greg. His skin, although still bruised, was stark white and he had a small amount of sweat gathering on his brow as his face screwed up in pain._

 _Nick couldn't find any words to say that would make him feel better, so waited until the nurse arrived back with his doctor, who had a new IV bag with his pain meds._

"Better" Greg replied in answer to his doctor's question.

"That's good" he replied, checking his stats, "Any more attacks since last night?"

Nick frowned slightly as he glanced to his friend.

"No" Greg answered in a croaky voice and he coughed slightly to clear his throat.

"Good. How is your chest?"

Greg shook his head slightly along his pillow, "Still tight".

His doctor nodded and came closer to him. "Alright, I'm just going to give you a look over. Would you like Nick to leave or stay?"

Greg's eyes flicked to Nick and he looked back to his doctor, not saying anything.

"Alright, Nick do you mind waiting outside? It won't take a minute".

Nick was a little taken back that Greg didn't want him to stay. He had been in the room before when Greg had a check-up, so he couldn't be sure as to why he didn't want him there now.

"So you've had no trouble breathing since yesterday?" The doctor asked as he moved Greg's bed into a more sitting position and reached behind to take off his hospital gown.

"Had little more trouble last night" Greg told him.

"Ok, how so?"

Greg took as deep of a breath in that he could manage as a stethoscope was pressed against his chest.

"Think it was an attack" Greg told him brokenly as he coughed.

His doctor held a cup of water with a straw in front of him and he took a few sips.

"Did you call for a nurse?"

Greg shook his head. "Greg, you must press the call button whenever you feel like one of these anxiety attacks is coming ok?"

"How did you handle it by yourself?"

Greg shrugged slightly. His doctor took away the stethoscope and looked at him, "Greg?"

He looked up to him and then looked away, "Think I passed out" he admitted.

His doctor sighed slightly and shook his head. "Greg, these attacks are serious. We need to control them before they get out of control. It's understandable that you're having some anxiety, panic. But it can be worked on. We can work on it".

Greg didn't say anything, just turned to look the other way as his doctor looked over his still healing injuries.

"I think we can start some physical therapy tomorrow if you feel like it?" He started after a moment. "It's been a while since you've been mobile so the sooner we can start the better".

Greg nodded in response and his doctor bought his gown back up and tied it around his neck.

"I'll send Nick back in" his doctor said as he jotted something down and then walked out. Not even half a minute later Nick was coming back in.

"Hey" he said as he took his seat again, "what happened yesterday?" he asked softly with concerned eyes.

Greg closed his eyes and sunk into his pillows, "Had a panic attack" he said quietly, embarrassed about his new problem. As if he didn't have enough.

Nick shook his head slightly, "Why didn't you tell me man? Were you on your own? You should have gotten them to call me".

He didn't get a reply. Nick sighed and sat back in his chair. "You know, I had a few little panic attacks after the whole plastic box thing" he admitted, "I know what they're like. I know what they're like when you have to suffer through them on your own" he told him. "I just want you to know that you're not alone".

Greg didn't respond, didn't know how to respond. But he heard what Nick said. He had heard every word and the meaning behind them.

* * *

"Anybody want to come with me to see Greg later? I'm hoping if I take some food he might be able to eat something" Morgan said as the team packed up their cases.

"Yeah I'll join you" Finn said.

"Me too", Sara added.

Russell nodded, "I'd like to come".

"Make that a full house" Nick said with a smile.

Morgan smiled back, "Alright. Well you guys go to the hospital, I'll grab us some food and we can eat there with Greg".

* * *

"Hey" Sara said as she opened the door to his hospital room.

Greg's eyes moved over to them and he offered a small attempt at a smile, although it was barely visible.

"Morgan's on her way with some food to join us, you up for a burrito or something?" Nick asked as they all settled around his bed.

Greg raised an eyebrow in response and the team didn't expect anything more.

It was only a quarter of an hour later when Morgan turned up, four bags of take out in her hands, "Hey guys, I've got food".

The team gathered, taking their food gratefully and Russell pulled the tray over Greg's bed closer to him.

"I got you some fries and a few other things. I didn't know what you might fancy so I got it all" Morgan said and smiled at him.

She placed the fries and other bits on the tray in front of him and Nick scooted his chair closer.

"You want me to pass you some fries?" He asked him.

Greg didn't respond so Nick picked up a few and brought them to his friend's mouth, however Greg turned his head away from him slightly.

The team shared a look and Nick looked to Greg, "You want something else?"

He didn't answer again so he put the fries down and dusted his hands off.

He began to eat his own food and asked a few more times if Greg wanted anything but the answer was always the same.

Soon they had all finished, apart from Greg whose food was still sat on the tray.

"Look" Finn said quietly as she nodded to Greg, making everyone look at him. Sometime between them chatting and eating, Greg had fallen asleep again and his mouth hung open slightly as he breathed slightly irregular.

They could only spend about an hour with Greg until he would fall asleep. He was constantly tired and you could tell that recovery was taking it out of him.

"Poor guy doesn't even want to eat anything" Nick said sadly as he sighed.

"He's on the mend. The doctor said it would be a while until he can do certain things. But he'll come around eventually" Russell told him reassuringly. But Russell just hoped he was right.

* * *

Greg was asleep and the hospital bed was propped up slightly. Russell had called in to see him and tentatively sat down next to him. He couldn't believe they had actually found him alive. He couldn't believe that he had actually woken up.

Russell believed that Greg would have given in to the pain and torment long ago. But he was wrong. When Brass called him about a tip off of a possible location as to where Greg was, he was running to his truck after Nick. It was typical that the Texan had overheard the conversation. Had they not found Greg, Russell knew that it would have been the last straw for his colleague.

They had gotten to the point now where Greg was able to talk and they knew he didn't have any serious brain damage. Well, not that serious anyway. He could talk and it seemed as though his head was all there too. Which was just a small thing from the whole incident to be thankful for.

As he sat, reading a book, sitting with Greg in case he woke up, Russell just happened to glance over as Greg began breathing a little erratic.

He placed his book down on the side table and focused on his young colleague. All of a sudden Greg's eyes were open and he scanned the room around him in panic.

"Hey, it's just me here, you're in the hospital" Russell old him, trying to calm him down

Greg looked at him with unfocused eyes and frowned.

"Hey, buddy it's me, you're ok" Russell said to him and grabbed his hand. He held it softly because of the cast and bandages still wrapped around it, but made sure Greg knew he was there.

Greg couldn't help the build-up of tears that he felt coming from behind his eyes. He could have sworn he was just back there. Back with the people who had hurt him so badly.

"It's alright, I've got you" Russell said, breaking through his thoughts. It was only then he realised he was crying. In front of his boss.

He tried to pull away and stop the tears but he was still so weak and he couldn't stop the tears from falling.

"Hey" Russell said to him, grabbing his hand a little tighter, "It's alright to be scared".

Greg closed his eyes, now his boss thought he was scared. It was bad enough that he was crying, but now his boss said that made it seem one hundred times worse. Sure it had been over three months since he had even seen his boss, but being so weak and looking so vulnerable was not the first thing he wanted to do.

He choked slightly as he tried to hold in a sob but it only made it worse. Russell moved to sit on the edge of the bed and cradled Greg into his side. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, Greg needed it. It was so hard to even talk to his friends, let alone show any emotion. He so badly wanted to call out to them, let them know what he wanted, what he needed, but he just couldn't.

Russell shushed him as he cried into his jacket and he was struggling to keep his own tears at bay. Seeing Greg break down like this was not unexpected, in fact he was surprised it was only happening now. But it broke his heart to try and imagine what sort of hell Greg went through.

"I've got you now; you're going to be fine. You hear me? You're going to be fine" Russell comforted, and soon enough Greg had fallen back to sleep in his arms.

* * *

"Hey, you need to head to the address I just sent you now" Brass said sternly down the phone.

Russell took his phone from his ear and saw the message Brass had sent through, "Is it a new scene?"

"No" Brass told him and paused for a second, "Somebody just called the department, they said… they said Greg was there".

Russell was speechless… "Greg"?

Nick who was just a few feet away heard his friends name and immediately went over to Russell with hopeful eyes.

"The guy sent a photo too, it's a picture of Greg" Brass explained down the phone.

"Nick and I are on our way" Russell told him as he quickly followed Nick outside to the parking lot, where the Texan was already jumping in his truck.

"Uniforms are on their way, I'll meet you there" Brass said before hanging up his cell.

* * *

"Hey, how did your physical therapy go?" Finn asked as she and Morgan came to visit him.

"Ok" Greg said as he shuffled in his bed slightly.

"Yeah? What did you have to do?" Morgan asked him.

Greg just shrugged slightly, "Just tried to move my legs a little, and my arms".

"That's good" Finn said, "You have another session soon?"

Greg nodded and looked to the side table, "Can I have a drink?"

"Sure" Finn said as she brought a plastic cup filled with water and a straw in it up to Greg and she then held it in front of his lips for him. After a few sips Greg drew back and thanked her.

"Everyone keeps asking how you're doing at work" Morgan told him, "I think Henry mentioned that they might visit you tomorrow".

Greg raised his eyebrows slightly to acknowledge that he had heard her but didn't say anything.

Morgan looked to Finn, unsure of whether to try and make some sort of conversation but Finn shook her head slightly, "Why don't we all watch some T.V.?"

* * *

"Hey, do you fancy coming into the lab with me tomorrow?" Nick asked Greg as they were sat in his hospital room. They had been sat in silence for about twenty minutes, with Nick glancing to Greg every couple of minutes. His friend had been sat in the chair in his room for days, not being able to even walk around the halls to get a change of scenery.

"Am I allowed?" Greg asked him with a monotone voice, but Nick could see the hopeful look in the younger man's eyes.

Nick nodded, "I don't see why not, I'll check with your doctor but I'm sure we can work something out".

* * *

I hope you can leave a review. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Please enjoy everyone!

* * *

"Are you excited?" Nick asked Greg as they were making their way to the lab.

Nick had picked him up about fifteen minutes ago and it had taken that long to get Greg into a wheelchair, down to the parking garage and then into Nick's truck.

Greg had been dressed in some casual pants and a shirt. He hadn't been able to wear jeans since he had been able to wear his own clothes, as the material was too rough for the injuries and scars on his legs.

He wore a shirt because that was all he wore now. He needed something that came as far up his neck as possible. He had enough visible scars; the last thing he wanted was people seeing the one across his neck. The one that held the worst memories.

* * *

"Well, I must say, I'm surprised you're still breathing" the guy said who was hovering over him.

Greg looked up to him, his tormentor for so long. He could barely stand to move from all of the broken bones he now had.

"I have something that I think might finish you off for good" the guy said as he stepped back and Greg's eyes followed him as he moved to a table in the far corner of the room and picked something up.

He closed his eyes as tightly as he could once he had seen that it was a knife. They had used the knife on him many times and he didn't think he could handle anymore.

"Open your eyes" the man commanded but he couldn't. He couldn't stand to look into his attackers eyes another time.

"He said open your damn eyes!" another voice said and before he could even respond, two hands were on either side of his face and forcing his eyes open.

He saw the man's associate; the other man who had been torturing him for however long he had been there.

"Give me that" he said, grabbing the knife from his pal.

"You keep your eyes open for this and watch whilst we let you slowly die alone and like a scared little boy" he said as he spat in his face.

He brought the knife to his neck and Greg stared at him waiting for what was to come. He couldn't stop the tremor that ran through his body, making him shake vulnerably under the man above him.

The guy laughed and dug the knife in slightly, making it just catch his skin and make a small trail of blood run down the side of his neck.

"Your little buddies were so close to finding you earlier, then they left… but not after accusing me of everything that they thought I had to do with your 'kidnapping'. Now I'm going to make sure, that if they come back here, and they want to charge me of all those things against you, I might as well make it worth it and let them charge me with murder".

Greg closed his eyes again, subconsciously, and they were soon parted again to become wide open, "I said keep your damn eyes open".

Greg stared at him, tears starting to form and the guy laughed, looking to his friend. "You know what, let's not kill him yet. I know just what to do to cause you pain, make you bleed, make you hurt, but without killing you. I want to see you want to die. I want to hear you beg to die".

A stray tear rolled down his face and then more pressure was pushed into the knife over his neck. He could feel a slow but steady stream of blood tickling his neck as it rolled down.

"You're so weak, you're pathetic" one of them said to him, "Your friends sounded so helpless. They've lost any hope that they had of finding you. They didn't even seem upset that you were missing… I think they're over it. It's just their job now to find you. They just need to know where your body is so that they can give it to your mom to bury".

* * *

"Mrs Hojem… this is D.B. Russell from the Las Vegas Crime lab. I work with your son".

"What happened to him?" was his mother's first question. He hadn't wanted to make the call but he had to, her son was missing.

"Ma'am, your son is missing" D.B. told her and paused as he heard her begin to cry on the other end of the line.

"We are doing absolutely everything that we can to get him back quickly and safely" he tried to assure her, but he was also telling himself. They needed to keep believing that they would get him back.

He heard a sniff on the other end before she spoke, "Do you know who has him?"

Russell sighed quietly, "No. We don't. We're still working on the evidence, on anything that may help us figure that out".

"I need to come over there, I need to see my son come back safely" she said brokenly.

Russell nodded into the phone, "That's fine; we can arrange a flight for you…"

"I can sort my own flight; just expect me there sometime tomorrow".

* * *

"Mrs Hojem" Nick greeted her as he saw her coming through the terminal and stood from his seat.

"Nick" She greeted as he took her luggage from her. She had met him a couple of times before and knew how Greg looked up to him. Having only one child meant Nick was like a brother to Greg, and boy did she know it.

"I'm really sorry that we have to come together like this" Nick started, "but I promise I will get him back".

She smiled sadly and tried to hold back her tears, "You have to".

Nick nodded, "I know".

* * *

Nick opened Greg's door for his mom and she stepped in cautiously. He had booked her into a nearby hotel after she found out she couldn't stay at Greg's house. Although the scene had been cleared, they decided it best to not let his mom stay there for her own safety.

She looked around and tears swelled in her eyes once more. Nick put his hand on her arm comfortingly as she made her way through to Greg's kitchen and looked at the photos on his fridge. There were photos of him and his friends, vacation photos, but the one that made her break was the photo of her and Greg, Greg standing behind her, chin on her shoulder, hugging her from behind. She was laughing and Greg had his trademark grin on his face. She pulled it down from the fridge and held it to her chest as she cried. Her only hope was that she could take another photo like this again.

* * *

"Greg's mother is flying back, she said she was going straight to the airport and was going to wait for the next available flight" Russell told the team quietly as they stood at the window observing Greg.

"She's going to breakdown seeing him like this" Nick said just as quiet, not taking his eyes off of Greg.

"Yeah she will" Russell agreed, "but he'll get better, and she'll start to cope better. Things will work out."

* * *

"He opened his eyes today" Morgan told Greg's mother as she joined him at Greg's bedside.

"He did?" His mom said hopefully. She grabbed her sons hand and carefully gave it a squeeze, being cautious of his injuries.

"You can do this Hojem… keep getting stronger".

* * *

"Greg? Greg, it's me… You're safe" Mrs Hojem said as she watched her son start to wake again.

As his eyes opened a little wider, he turned to face his mom and she smiled down at him.

She saw the moment of recognition in his eyes and saw his lip twitch slightly as he attempted to smile at her, "That's my son. I love you".

* * *

"Greg's mom is flying home today" Morgan said as they sat at the lab.

"She is?" Sara asked, putting her cup of coffee down.

Morgan nodded, "Yeah, I don't think she can spend any more time here, she's going to miss him".

Nick sighed, "Yeah? Well I bet Greg will miss her more".

"She can't stay forever though right?" Finn said, "I mean how long has she been in Vegas?"

"Well she was here when he first went missing" Russell said, "So, six, seven months?"

Nick shook his head, "But Greg only got half of that with her".

"I'm sure she'll be coming back soon enough. But she left everything to be here, and how old is she? Most people her age probably wouldn't even be able to fly out to see their son" Sara said, sticking up for Greg's mother. He could understand why one might think it was not right that she was going back when her son needed her more now than ever, but she had stayed for as long as she could, she had done as much as she could. And she was sure Greg would want her to go back home on some level. He wouldn't want her spending all of her time in Vegas because of him. He knew his mom loved him, sometimes he would say a little too much, but she had her own life. And that wasn't here.

* * *

"I'm sorry I have to leave" Mrs Hojem said to her son who was still in his room at the hospital.

"It's ok" Greg told her quietly. He really didn't want her to go, but he knew she had to. For herself and for him. She was drained more than she had ever been in her whole life, and Greg could see that, everyone could see that. It was important to Greg that she spent the rest of her life doing something, anything other than looking after her son. She had done enough of that when she was raising him. And besides, there wasn't much she could do for him now anyway. It was her company he would miss.

"I'll call you as soon as I land" She told him, "I love you, and don't forget that".

His mom gave him a kiss and he tried to hold himself together, "Love you too".

She wiped the tears that fell from her eyes with a tissue and gave him one last hug.

"I love you" she said again before walking out, Russell putting his arm around her as he led her out, being the one to take her to the airport.

Once they had gone, Nick came over from the other side of the room and put his hand on his friend's knee, "You ok?" he asked softly, seeing that he clearly wasn't.

Greg looked down and tried to take a deep, calming breath, but instead he choked on it as he tried to hold in his tears.

Nick scooted closer and wrapped his arms around his friend and pulled him closer to himself as he comforted him.

* * *

Nick parked up in the lab's parking lot and turned to his friend, "You ready?"

Greg nodded slightly and Nick got out and came around to the passenger side to help him out and set up his wheelchair. Once he was sat down in it, Nick locked his truck and began pushing his friend inside.

Everybody was excited to see him. Nick had let the team know that Greg would be visiting and word had gotten around the lab pretty quickly, so everyone couldn't wait to see their friend outside of the hospital.

As they entered the lab, the first face they saw was Judy's on reception.

"Greg! It's good to see you" she said as she came around from behind her desk and out to the front.

"How are you doing?" She asked him.

Greg didn't want to be rude but he couldn't find the words to say so just nodded and gave her a small smile.

"You're on the mend, aren't you?" Nick said for him and he nodded again.

Judy smiled at Nick and then back at Greg, "Well it's good to see you here" she told him before going back to her seat.

Nick told her they would see her later and said goodbye, whereas Greg just sat quietly as Nick made his way through the lab.

The next person to see them was Russell.

"Hey Greg, it's good to see you, Nick told us we might be seeing you today" He welcomed him as they met in the hall.

Greg raised his eyebrows and gave him a smile to try and acknowledge him but he still couldn't get any words to leave his mouth.

"I think most of the team are in the break room if you're trying to find them" Russell told them both.

"Thanks, I think we'll head there next" Nick said to him.

"Alright, well I've got to drop this off in trace, but I'll see you later, alright?" Russell said to Greg and then gave them both a smile as he left.

Nick stepped around so that Greg could see him and knelt down, "You up to seeing everyone together?"

Greg stared at him for a minute and then nodded, "I'll be ok" he told him quietly.

Nick smiled, "Alright, just let me know if you want anything or you want to go" he reminded him, having already told him this in the ride over. Again, Greg nodded and Nick stood to take his place behind the wheelchair and made their way to the break room.

"Look who's here" Morgan said as she saw Nick and Greg enter the break room.

Sara and Finn turned to face them at the table and then stood when they saw who it was.

"Hey, it's nice to see you outside of those four walls at the hospital" Sara greeted him as she came over and gave him a hug.

"Yeah, I bet it's good to be out for the day isn't it?" Finn asked him.

Greg shrugged awkwardly and Morgan smiled at him, "Do you want a drink or something?"

He shook his head and looked down shyly. "How about some of your best coffee?" Sara asked and he looked back up to see her and Nick sharing a knowing smile.

Sara took something from behind her back and Greg smiled seeing his old obsession, Blue Hawaiian coffee, in front of her.

"I knew that would get a reaction out of you" Nick said with a laugh as he started to boil a pot.

"Nick got some delivered here a week ago and we weren't allowed to touch it" Sara told him.

"Yeah, and I've been wanting to taste this famous coffee" Morgan chipped in.

Finn sat down near Greg and smiled, "We have high expectations because of how everybody's been raving about it" she explained, "It better live up to the hype".

Greg smiled at her and quickly looked down. He was feeling a little… claustrophobic, with everyone around him. He was trying hard not to think about it, but being at the centre of attention was just reminding him of what had happened to him.

"Here" Sara said as she poured some coffee for everyone and passed one to Greg.

He shakily took it from her and she held onto his hand as she gave it to him, feeling and seeing the shaking of his hand, worried that he would spill the hot coffee.

"Do you have it?" She asked him quietly.

He shook his head slightly, knowing that if she let go he wouldn't be able to hold it firmly enough to not drop the mug all over himself.

"Ok" she said gently and pulled it back, putting it on the table, "we'll leave it there a little while, it's still quite hot" she said, coming up with an explanation in front of the team.

They all smiled at Greg and he couldn't stand to look at them, so looked down and tried to calm himself. Since his first couple of panic attacks in the hospital, he had met with a therapist who had taught him a few breathing techniques that would help him to calm down. Well, that was the theory anyway. He had had many more attacks since and it would take longer than he would have liked for him to calm down.

He could feel the familiar panic start to rise inside of him and tried to not let it show. It had been embarrassing enough the first time that the whole team had been with him and witnessed his weakness, the last thing he needed was for them to see him like that again.

 _"Greg, are you alright?" Morgan asked him. She had turned to make sure Greg was still listening to them all chat and that he wasn't falling asleep like many times before when they had all been sat with him. But she was upset to see that he had his eyes closed tight and his forehead getting sweaty._

 _"Greg?" Nick asked when they all turned their attention to him._

 _Nick moved over to him and perched on the edge of his bed._

 _"Hey buddy, listen to me, you're alright, you're safe. You're at the hospital" he told him softly, "You're ok"._

 _Greg's breathing had increased and his eyes were still screwed up impossibly tight, but a few stray tears had managed to creep out._

 _Nick leant further over the bed and put his arm around Greg, "Greg, you're ok, we're here, it's alright" he shushed him, looking up to the team as Greg put his chin down to his chest._

 _The others were quiet as they watched Greg crumble to some unknown pressure inside of himself._

 _His breathing hitched as he choked on a breath and Nick squeezed his arm, "Will someone fetch his doctor" he said quickly but as calmly as he could. Greg was getting worse and he had sat with his friend many times as he endured a panic attack and knew when it was getting out of hand._

 _Finn was quick to come back with a nurse and his doctor and in just a few seconds they were all ushered out of the room bar Nick, and left to wait in the corridor._

"Nick" Morgan said and looked to Greg.

Nick sipped his coffee and turned back to Greg and saw what was happening.

He quickly put his coffee down and knelt in front of him, "Hey… hey" he said when Greg didn't respond the first time.

Greg brought his head up that was facing down and looked at his friend.

"Greg, look at me, take a deep breath alright" Nick said to him, "Go on, it's alright".

Greg copied Nick's breathing and glanced to his friends and work mates. They all gave him a sympathetic smile and he quickly looked away, focusing on his breathing.

"That's it, relax" Nick told him once he had started to cool down, "Do you want to go outside and get some air?" he asked him with a reassuring smile.

Greg nodded ever so slightly and Nick quickly stood up and went behind him to start pushing the wheelchair, "We'll be right back", he told the rest of the team.

He quickly pushed Greg back down the hall and they were nearly out when Henry and Hodges spotted them both and came out to see Greg.

"Hey Gr-" Henry stopped mid-sentence when he saw Nick shake his head gently and saw how pale Greg was. He grabbed a hold of Hodges' arm and held him back before he went out to see their friend.

Nick managed to get them both outside in less than a minute without any disruptions and once they were out he went to the nearest bench and sat on it, with Greg next to him.

"You ok?" Nick asked him and Greg took a shaky breath.

"Will you... take me back?" he asked his friend quietly.

Nick frowned slightly, "Back inside?"

Greg looked away tearfully and shook his head, "the hospital" he said and looked down.

Nick's frown slowly faded and sorrow soon appeared on his face. Greg was refusing to look up again and Nick saw a tear fall from his eye and land on his pant leg.

"I'll take you back, man. Whatever you want" he said to him.

He stood quietly without another word and pushed Greg to the parking lot and towards his truck. As they walked by two lab techs having a cigarette, Nick noticed Greg tug on his shirt collar, pulling it up further around his neck.

As soon as Nick had managed to help Greg into his truck, they set off back to the hospital. The drive was silent, with Nick giving Greg quick glances every few minutes.

* * *

Without a word, they were getting out again at the hospital not half an hour later and Greg was heading back to his room.

The hospital staff helped Greg change into some pyjamas that he had been bought and Nick stood back as they settled him into his bed again. He thanked them as they left and went to sit by his friend.

"You want to talk?" He asked him, breaking the silence.

Greg didn't react for a moment but then turned his head away slightly, "Sorry" he said lightly, swallowing the lump forming in his throat.

Nick shook his head, "What you sorry for, man?"

"Making you, drive… all the way here, to the lab, just… to come back five minutes later" he said, sniffing to try and hold in his tears.

"You didn't make me do that" Nick told him, "I wanted to do it".

Greg didn't reply just bought a hand up to his face and awkwardly wiped a tear away with his still healing fingers.

"Greg, I thought you might have wanted to go to the lab, that's why I suggested it. We can always go another time, any time" he told him.

"I did" Greg told him, "I just…"

Nick waited, knowing that it was hard for him to even talk, never mind talking about whatever problems he had going on.

"I don't know" Greg finally settled on saying quietly.

Nick leant forward in his chair, "I get it. That was the first time you've been out of the hospital in, I don't even know how long. The outside world is scary" he told him in a soft voice, "But, it'll get easier. You just got to give it time."

Greg sniffed and tried to compose himself again and lay his head back into the pillows.

"But, I want… I want to get out of here now" he said to his friend brokenly.

Nick edged forward again and put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "I know, man, I know." Greg began to cry and turned his head away from his best friend.

Nick shook his head, "Hey, look at me" he said softly.

Greg turned his face back to him but it screwed up in anguish as the onslaught of tears began.

Nick squeezed his shoulder, "You're going to get out of here. Alright? It might be a little while, but you'll get out. And when you do get out, you're going to stay with me, and everything is going to be alright. Ok? It's going to be alright".

They stayed like that for almost half an hour, Greg sobbing with no control and Nick doing his best to comfort him. After that they fell into an easy silence.

Nick was sure Greg had dozed off until he spoke gently, "Can I actually stay with you?"

Nick sat up a little straighter from hearing the croaky voice and looked at him, "Of course, bud, I'm not going to let you stay on your own".

Greg closed his eyes briefly before speaking again. "I'd go back to my house… but I don't really want to stay there anymore" he told him, tearing up again.

Nick shook his head, "I know, that's why you can come to my house. It'll be like we're roommates in college. And hell I'll even help you sell your house if you want" he offered, feeling like he had to speak quietly or his friend may break again.

Greg sniffed and nodded gently, "Yeah, never want to see that place again".

* * *

I hope you liked it.


	6. Chapter 6

Here is chapter 6.

* * *

"Hey" Sara said quietly as she entered his hospital room, Nick following behind her.

"It was nice to see you at the lab yesterday" She said to him. Nick had filled her in about the night before when he had taken Greg back to the hospital.

Sara sat next to him and shook her head, "We were all happy to see you".

Greg didn't reply and Sara shared a concerned look with Nick.

"Do you fancy anything fetching from the cafeteria? I can go down and see if they have anything a little exciting for you" she suggested, trying to lift his spirit.

But he just shook his head and turned it away from the side she and Nick sat.

Nick frowned, "Do you want us to leave?"

Greg didn't answer him, just stayed quiet without even acknowledging the fact that Nick had even spoke.

"Tell you what, Sara and I will go have a coffee downstairs, and we'll bring you something up when we've done, alright?" Nick suggested.

Greg didn't respond so Nick sighed inwardly and motioned to Sara for them to leave.

As Nick shut the door Sara spoke, "Has he been like this since last night?"

Nick nodded as they started down the corridor, "Yeah, he just clammed up after he broke down and he's hardly said two words since" he told her with a sigh.

Sara sighed too, "I thought he was making good progress".

"He was, I mean, he was out of the hospital yesterday" Nick replied, "He was outside for the first time in what must feel like forever for him and he just shut off… I shouldn't have taken him to the lab" he said as they sat down at the cafeteria.

Sara leant her hand over the table and grabbed his, "Hey, this is not your fault. You asked him if he wanted to go and he said yes. He did want to go. It might not have gone how we all wanted it to go, but he still got out of the hospital for an hour". Sara gave his hand a squeeze, "He's probably just overwhelmed by everything today, he'll be speaking again by tomorrow".

But Nick shook his head, "What if he doesn't speak to us tomorrow though? Or the day after? Or the day after that?" he asked her as tears began to well in his eyes. "He didn't speak for weeks after he got here, he couldn't speak… what if that happens again? I just want him to get better" he told her, putting his head down and taking a deep breath, "I can't stand to see him get worse again" he told her with a defeated sigh as he wiped a stray tear.

Sara gripped his hand harder, "He won't get worse. He's going to get better. You've been by his side the whole time; he needs you to stay strong so that he gets better. So he had a bad day yesterday and he's having a bad day today, tomorrow's going to be better. You have to believe that".

Nick nodded, "Yeah you're right. I just… seeing him like this, it's not Greg. They broke him Sara. And I don't know if he can be fixed".

* * *

"Greg, I'm going to assess you now, alright? It won't take long so your colleagues can wait just outside" his doctor told him.

The team stood to leave but looked back to Greg when a strangled moan left his mouth. They were about to turn again but Greg stared at Nick.

"Y… you… s…s…st…" He tried to get the words to leave his mouth and the team must have gotten the gist as they began to smile and Nick went to sit back down.

"Of course I'll stay, man, whatever you want" he told him with a grin. He couldn't believe Greg had just spoken. The whole time that they had been sat with him at the hospital, not one word had passed his lips. They had begun to think that their friend would never speak again, and the doctor told them that it was possible after his injuries that it could take years for him to regain any kind of voice.

* * *

Henry and Hodges knocked tentatively on the hospital room door and waited a second before going in.

"Hey Greg" Hodges said in an unusually soft tone. "Henry and I just wanted to come and say hi".

Henry sat down awkwardly and Greg's gaze moved over to him.

"We, err, we bought you some chocolates and stuff" he said holding up a small gift bag, "looks like you already have enough to last till next year though" he commented looking to the bags of gifts and chocolates at the side of the room.

Greg just stared at him for another second before turning his head to look forward, and leaning his head back into the pillows, closing his eyes.

Hodges and Henry shared a look with each other and Henry spoke quietly, "Do you want us to go? We can come back later?" he suggested after a minute.

Greg opened his eyes again and shook his head slightly in his pillow, wincing as the motion sent pain through his head.

"Do you need some more pain medication?" Hodges asked him gently.

Greg mumbled a response and Hodges nor Henry knew if that was a yes or a no.

"Shall we get a doctor?" Henry asked him.

But Greg managed to whisper out a 'no' and forced himself to keep his eyes open, which had started to droop close again.

They all sat in silence for the next few minutes, Henry and Hodges watching as Greg struggled to stay awake.

"Hey, if you're tired, get some sleep, we'll stay here for a little while" Hodges said to him.

Greg turned his eyes to him and tried to speak, "S… s…"

Hodges and Henry sat there, giving him time to get out what he wanted to say.

"Sor…y"

Henry frowned, "What are you sorry for? You can't help being tired, right?" he said, trying to let him know that it was fine. The team had told them both that he probably wouldn't be up to much when they visited but they only wanted to see their friend. They didn't expect him to be having full on conversations with them.

Greg just mumbled something that neither of them could make out before he had closed his eyes and was fast asleep.

* * *

"Hey, when did you get out of bed?" Nick asked as he and Morgan entered his hospital room.

Greg was sitting in the chair by his window, looking out of it. He turned to face them and tried to offer a small smile, "The nurse asked if I wanted to sit here", he told them, giving a short explanation of how he had gotten out of bed for the first time since he had arrived.

Morgan smiled as she and Nick bought a chair up to sit down with him.

"Well it's good that you're out of bed" she commented, "Have you had any more physio yet?"

Greg nodded, "This morning".

"Yeah? How did it go?" She asked him, determined to keep the conversation going.

He shrugged slightly with his left arm and turned to look back out of the window.

Nick frowned and pushed him slightly, "Did it not go well?"

Greg was silent for a minute but then looked down as he spoke, "I couldn't do it".

"What do you mean you couldn't do it? What did you have to try and do?" Morgan asked him softly.

"Couldn't move my fingers right. I had to… try hold a pen" he told them, sounding a little distressed.

Nick shrugged, "Well you can try it again right? It doesn't matter that you couldn't get it first time" he told him, trying to raise his moral a little bit.

Greg shook his head slightly, "I've been trying to do it all week", he told them with sadness in his voice.

"Well it's something to work on right?" Nick said, "It might take a little bit more time but you will get there".

Greg didn't say anything, just turned to look out of the window.

Morgan looked to Nick, unsure of what to do.

"Did you get to try doing anything else?" Nick asked him.

"Just usual things" Greg replied. He had been just trying to get some movement back into all of his muscles. After being immobile for so long, it was hard work to just get things going again.

"That's good, all of this is going to help you get out of here" Morgan said to him, trying to get him to smile.

He still didn't answer. He was just fed up of everything. He had been in the hospital for weeks and weeks and before that he had been god knows where, with the cruellest bastards he would ever meet, for almost three months. Everything had changed in that time. Everything about him had changed.

* * *

"Hey, bud, how's it going?" Russell asked him as he entered his room and shut the door quietly. He noticed how dark it was and realised the drapes were closed.

He looked at Greg as he sat down next to his bed and frowned in concern, "You alright?"

Greg shook his head gently on his pillows, "I have a fever" he told him quietly.

Russell leant forward and touched his arm, "Yeah, you're burning up. They've given you something for it?" he asked.

Greg swallowed painfully, "Gave me something earlier".

Russell nodded and looked down, only now noticing the soft cushioned fabric that attached Greg's wrist to the bed rail. He looked over his other side and noticed both were the same. Concern growing Russell looked back to Greg.

"Greg, why are you restrained?" He asked gently but confused.

Greg's eyes flicked up to him and he quickly looked down as his breathing hitched.

"Hey, it's alright, who put you in them?" Russell asked him, grabbing his young colleagues hand and offering support.

Greg tried to keep calm but he could feel himself getting agitated. "The doctor" he told his boss, gently pulling his arm away, making the fabric stretch slightly as it held him to the bed.

"Why Greg?" Russell asked him. He could see the anguish in his friend's face and his heart was almost breaking.

"I panicked" he told him as a tear rolled down his face, "I was confused" he added as he struggled to even breathe properly.

Russell shushed him and squeezed his hand, "Ok, ok, it's alright. Shall I go and see if we can get them off?" he asked, still unsure of the reason they were on in the first place.

Greg nodded and pulled at the restraints again, "I need them off… they can't do this… I don't want to be back there" he told his boss, tears streaming down his face.

"You're not back there and you won't be going back there, ok? Do you hear me?" Russell told him strongly.

He sat for another minute with him until he was sure a full blown panic attack wasn't about to break out and then told him he was going to find his doctor to get them removed.

As he closed the door to Greg's room he went over to one of the nurses and spoke, "Excuse me… Hi, I'm visiting Greg Sanders" he told her, pointing to the room behind him, "is his doctor around? I need to speak to him".

The nurse smiled at him and nodded, "I believe he's on the floor already, I'll go and see if I can find him" she told him politely.

Russell smiled at her, "Thank you so much" he said to her as she left, and he went to sit on one of the chairs just outside Greg's room to wait.

Not two minutes later the nurse arrived with Greg's doctor next to her.

Russell stood to meet him and put his hand out, "It's good to see you again" he said as he shook the doctors hand.

"You too" the doctor greeted him, "I think I know what you want to talk to me about".

Russell raised his eyebrow slightly and nodded, "Yeah, I bet you do. What happened? He doesn't need those things on, after what he's been through…"

"I know, I know what you're saying" the doctor interrupted, "but please let me explain" he said, motioning to the chairs that Russell had previously been sat on.

As they sat he spoke again, "At about 2pm one of the nurses went to give him a bath, as she went in she could see Greg looked unwell. She went over to him to take his temperature and Greg panicked. Whether he had just woken up or was in the middle of a panic attack, we're not sure. But he lashed out at her".

Russell frowned in worry. Greg would never do such a thing. Well, not intentionally and he was sure he would hate to think he was capable of doing it in any state.

"Our nurse tried to calm him but he continued to be violent. He managed to pull out his IV whilst he was at it too" the doctor informed him. "A few of the nurses heard the commotion and went in and then I was called. By the time I had gotten there, Greg had managed to get two of the nurses with his fist. He was clearly agitated and I tried to calm him down but he wasn't listening and began to try and get up out of bed. The only way we could calm him was to give him some sedation and use the restraints".

Russell took a minute to take in what had been said to him and sighed, "Have you been in to him since?"

"Yes, once he had woken up I went to speak to him" his doctor told him softly, "he asked if I could take the restraints off and I told him they had to stay on for a little while longer. I understand why he and yourself would not want us to keep them on him, however after his state earlier; we have to take precautions to make sure that my staff are not at risk. I explained this to Greg and he just told me to apologise to the nurses for him. Both of them are fine now, and they understand Greg's situation and why he might have acted the way he did".

Russell sighed once more, "So he has to leave the restraints on?" he asked quietly.

The doctor nodded, "Yes. Perhaps just for another hour, but it's too soon to assume he won't react in the same way again".

Russell nodded, "I'm sorry. That he did that" he clarified, "He would never dream of doing anything like that…"

"Like I said, the staff completely understand. We're only here to make Greg better".

They were quiet for a moment before the doctor spoke again, "Greg's therapist said he would come down to speak to him later on this evening. By then he can have the restraints removed".

Russell stood as did the doctor and thanked him. He watched as he walked back down the hall and then turned to go back into Greg's room.

Greg looked up with hopeful eyes as Russell entered his room again but his face dropped when he saw his Boss' face.

"They have to leave them on for a little while longer" he told him sadly.

Greg leant his head back into his pillows and closed his eyes as tears threatened to leak.

"Hey, he said it won't be long until they can take them off, ok, just an hour or so, that's it" Russell explained to him, watching his colleague crumble.

Greg took a deep breath and tried to hold it together. "I didn't mean to do it".

Russell leant in closer to him and nodded, "I know that, Greg. And the doctor said the nurses understand, it's ok".

He looked down and could see the dark bruise where Greg had obviously ripped out his IV like his doctor had just told him. A new one had been inserted just next to it.

He looked at his young colleague's face and didn't know what to say. The kid just couldn't catch a break.

Just as he was about to speak, a young nurse came in. "Hey Greg, I'm just going to check your temperature ok?" She said as she came up to the side of his bed, "It's gone up slightly since the last time we checked, so I'm going to have to give you some more antibiotics" she explained softly as she prepared it to put in his IV.

Before she reached it Greg spoke quietly, "Are they going to make me feel sick?" he asked with watery eyes. Every time they gave him something he felt worse and worse.

She smiled sympathetically at him, "They shouldn't do, why do you feel ill now?" she asked him.

He nodded and blinked, making a tear roll down his face.

"Ok, I'll go and get you something for the nausea. Have you eaten today?" She asked him next, to which he shook his head.

"I'm going to bring you something, it will be good to get something in your system" she told him with a small smile.

Neither Russell nor Greg spoke until she returned and handed Russell a small plate with a few crackers on it, "Will you be alright to help him with these?" She asked Russell.

Russell nodded and then thanked her as she left. "Here buddy, have some of these" he said as he leant over to give Greg one of the crackers.

But Greg just turned his head away, tears once again making their way down his face. Russell was about to try again but then thought against it. The poor boy was tied up to a hospital bed, having his boss trying to feed him. He must have felt so humiliated. He sat back and put the plate down. He would wait until the restraints were removed, and would allow Greg to eat by himself.

* * *

Please review and let me know what you think.


End file.
